


Steady

by queen_scribbles



Category: Pillars of Eternity
Genre: (Or is it?), Dancing, Friendship, Gen, Party, Unrequited Crush, poor Emiri's got it BAD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-14
Updated: 2019-01-14
Packaged: 2019-10-10 04:06:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,476
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17418782
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queen_scribbles/pseuds/queen_scribbles
Summary: After the events of Cayron's Scar, Emiri and her friends deserve a break





	Steady

**Author's Note:**

> For fill 71: Celebrate. This is set the day after Shallow, but I think you could manage without having read that.

 

Emiri was dragged awake long before she was ready by a kaleidoscope of memories--voices, images, emotions--that she didn’t even want. She sat up, breathing hard, and buried her face in her hands while she waited for her heart to slow down.

_You’re in Stalwart,_ she reminded herself. _Not... wherever that was._ One hand dropped to rub the furs for a tangible reminder. Her past life’s surroundings had been far more austere and dour than the woodsy comfort of the Gréf’s Rest.

Once she had settled, Emiri looked toward the window and scowled. After yesterday, she had been dearly hoping to sleep in. No such luck--the view outside was just starting to lighten, a pale pink glow creeping in one corner of the window. From the look of things, all her friends were still asleep as well.

So, grumbling to herself, Emiri slid out of bed. The Awakened part of her hovered too close to the surface for her to hope she’d actually stay asleep if she tried again. A pity; their adventure in Cayron’s Scar had wrung her out both emotionally and otherwise. More sleep would have been nice. But she had plenty of experience running on less than she needed. Rather then dwell on it, Emiri steadied herself against the wall to pull on her boots and then headed out to talk to Haeferic.

The tavern part of the establishment was far busier than she would have expected, given the early hour. Emiri wove her way between kith until she reached the counter and caught Haeferic’s attention.

“Ah, Watcher, you’re up early!” the dwarf greeted her with a smile.

“Not by choice,” Emiri replied, shrugging gamely. She gestured to the bustling workers. “What’s going on?”

“Oh, Winter’s End,” Haeferic said, pausing briefly to direct a man carrying a cask toward the inn’s cellar. “We weren’t figurin’ on havin’ much cause to celebrate this year, what with those Iron Flail bastards practically on our doorstep.” He winked at her. “Impending doom has a way of dampening people’s spirits. But since you chased ‘em off and they ain’t a threat no more, Mayor Tarfos decided it would be good to hold the celebrations like normal. Give folks a chance to blow off steam.”

“Smart man,” Emiri said with a laugh. “So...” She hesitated. “I haven’t been in the Dyrwood long. What all’s involved in Winter’s End?”

“Drinkin’ and eatin’ and rememberin’ those we lost that year mostly.” Haeferic scratched behind his ear. “You should stick around, see for yourself. ‘Course, out here it’s more symbolic than anything. The snow don’t melt here like in other parts, and it sure as shit ain’t gonna warm up any time soon.” He smirked. “Still, any excuse for a three day party party is a good one.”

She smiled at his enthusiasm and shrugged. “We might just do that. Things were more... exciting yesterday than we bargained for, so more time to recover is probably a good idea. And it sounds fun.” It would also give more time for Hiravias’ knee to heal, and for Aloth to warm up before they went traveling through waist-deep snow to get home.

“Oh, it is that, Watcher,” Haeferic laughed. “It is most definitely that. But I imagine y’had another purpose in mind, comin’ out this early in the mornin’?” What can I do for ya?”

“Breakfast.” Emiri said, slightly scattered. “Please. For the six of us, something warm and filling.” She looked him dead in the eye. “The best you’ve got.”

He nodded, clearly getting the message. “When d’you need it?”

“In a couple hours, I guess,” she said, biting her lip. Hopefully her friends wouldn’t be rudely awakened by nightmares and could get a decent bit of sleep.  “Yes, two hours should be good. More or less.”

Haeferic chuckled. “That’ll run you... three hundred fifty pands.”

“Sounds fair,” Emiri nodded. “Add it to my tab?”

“Of course.” He gave a sharp nod. “Need anything else? If not, I need t’ get back to supervisin’ preparations.”

“Nope, go right ahead. I’m sure things are a bit crazy, with it being a last minute decision and all.”

Bobbing his head in both confirmation and gratitude, Haeferic swiveled back to barking directions into the milling crowd of workers. Emiri watched for a minute or two before heading back to her room. She didn’t hear anyone moving around as she approached, and so was very careful to be quiet as she slipped back in. The room was still dark, the fire banked to low embers. A quick glance towards the beds confirmed most of her friends were sleeping.

The one exception was Kana. He sat at the table, positioned so his body blocked the rest of the room from the light of his candle as he rapidly filled the pages of a spare blank book.

“Surprised to see you up,” Emiri commented.

Kana turned and flashed her a toothy smile. “There’s too much to write down. I was afraid I’d forget parts if I waited much longer. We learned so much; about Ondra, Abydon, the Engwithans. Such knowledge is worthy of preservation.”

Emiri nodded as she walked over to sit across from him. “That it is.”

A moment passed, her picking at her bracelets, Kana rolling his pen between thumb and index finger, heedless of the ink it flicked along his sleeve.

He spoke finally, softly, as he set down the pen. “Why do I feel what has you up at this hour is far less benign?”

She sighed, looked at the table instead of him as she answered. “...It’s the dreams again.”

Kana wordlessly reached over and covered her hand with his. His fingers smudged ink against her skin as he gave a gentle squeeze. Emiri’s face warmed and her halo flickered brighter at his silent support.

“I feel I owe you an apology,” Kana said softly. He rolled on before she could protest. “The other day, when I asked about you being a Watcher, I fear I may have been... rather tactless.  I didn’t really understand what was involved. Is it hard on you, hearing the spirits all the time?”

_**Yes.**_ But she didn’t want to burden him, and definitely didn’t want to ruin a moment that involved Kana _holding her hand,_ so Emiri hunched her shoulders in a not-quite shrug and mumbled, “It can get a little overwhelming.”

Kana cocked his head, eyes narrowing, and squeezed her hand again. “You needn’t soften your words on my account, Emiri, if it ever gets to be too much. We’ll find the means to cure you. You’ve my word on that.”

_Alright, the past three minutes alone are worth the lost hours of sleep._ Emiri ducked her head. It was a futile gesture, with how her halo glowed. She wasn’t hiding anything. “I... thank you, Kana.” She shifted her hand so she could squeeze back. “I appreciate it, truly. And you weren’t being tactless, you were being _curious_.” _You were being **you**_. “I didn’t mind.”

“Well, that’s a relief,” Kana said, giving her another smile, more serious but somehow more honest than the one a few minutes ago. “If I ever do overstep, please tell me.”

Emiri nodded, fully aware there wasn’t much he could do she would consider overstepping. “You, um, you should finish writing. Before everyone wakes up and there are distractions.”

“A sound plan,” Kana agreed. He withdrew his hand, picked up the pen, and returned to his writing, filling page after page with rapid but mostly-legible script.

Emiri dug in her pocket until she came up with enough thread--white, pale blue, dark grey--to start a new bracelet, then settled in to pass the time until the others awoke in companionable silence.

>>><<<

Hiravias was the next one awake, nearly an hour and a half hour later, popping up with a growled curse as he rubbed out a cramp in his leg.” Hound’s teeth, that’s a lousy good morning,” he grumbled. “’Specially since that’s the same one got fucked up yesterday.”

Emiri winced in sympathy. “Sorry.”

“Not your fault.” He shrugged and winked at her. “In fact, you’re the reason more of me didn’t get hit by falling rocks, so you really don’t need to apologize.” He limped over and boosted himself into the very much _not_ orlan-sized chair. “So do we have a plan for food or anything, Watcher?”

Emiri laughed. “I talked to Haeferic when I got up. Food should only be another half hour or so. And I paid for the good stuff, but we’ve seen how that can vary by location, so... we’ll see.”

Hiravias grinned and ruffled one hand through his hair, somehow leaving it a worse mess than it had been previously. “Sounds good. I guess I can hold out that long. And you know I’ll eat anything, but ‘good stuff’ does sound appealing today.”

The food did indeed arrive as predicted, and smelled so good it dragged the other three out of bad, though Aloth and Pallegina didn’t look truly awake until halfway through their first cup of tea.

Haeferic hadn’t been kidding when he promised her the best he had. Emiri wondered if anyone else in Stalwart--including the mayor--was eating this well. But it was good to have a meal that was actually _satisfying_ and _filling_ and made her feel warm inside after so long trekking all over the White March eating jerky. It was even better sharing it with her friends(who were _all still here_ , despite Ondra’s best efforts).

“So, what’s the plan? Miri?” Edér asked once they’d all eaten their fil.

“I know stopping Thaos is important,” she began, playing with the bracelet she’d made. “But I feel like another day or two to rest would be good. For some of us” --she nudged Aloth’s knee under the table and shot Hiravias a meaningful look--”more than others.”

“I like this plan,” Hiravias chipped in. “But what’re we supposed to _do_ while we’re here?”

“I did mention _rest,_ ” Emiri emphasized, looking him dead in the eye. “Which is probably an especially good idea with that knee of yours, before we go tromping down a mountain through waist-deep snow.”

“I see your point,” he said, idly snapping the strap to his eyepatch. “Anything to avoid more piggyback rides. But what if the thought of being stuck in here makes me itchy and I want to take it easy somewhere else? Does this... charming place have anything interesting to offer?”

“Funny you should ask that,” she said, laughing. “They _are_ getting ready to start some festival...”

“Winter’s End!” Edér interrupted with a grin. “I’ll be damned, how’d I forget about that?”

“We _have_ been roaming all over the frigid mountainside for the last several days, _ac_?” Pallegina pointed out. “I believe you can be forgiven for losing track of the date.”

“Right kind of you,” Edér shot back, slouching more comfortably in his chair. “But really, there ain’t no party in the Dyrwood like Winter’s End. It’ll be fun, even if they are throwin’ it together all last-minute.”

With that ringing endorsement from a local(or local-adjacent), the plan was all but settled. Emiri did notice, however, that Aloth seemed less enthused than the others. That was hardly surprising.

She leaned close and murmured, “I know how you are about big, loud parties. Feel free to stay here with a book or something if you’d rather.”

He half-smiled and twisted one of his rings, something like relief glimmering in his eyes. “That was my plan, yes. I may join you later, though.”

Emiri laughed. “I was about to say the same thing. You know how _I_ am about big, loud parties.”

Aloth nodded. “I do indeed.”

Still, she was curious. And if the Dyrwood was to be her home, as she planned, it would be smart to familiarize herself with the customs. So she’d go for a while, have fun and relax, but there was a safe have she could retreat to if it became too much.

>>><<<

Even with the early start to the preparations, it took a few hours for word to spread and the people of Stalwart to turn out for the festivities. Once they did, however, the atmosphere picked up quickly. There was a lot for them to celebrate, after all. And the amount of alcohol present helped. Edér hadn’t been exaggerating when he said there wasn’t any party like it in the Dyrwood.

Emiri enjoyed herself quite a bit, even if she only sampled most of the food and nursed a single drink--wyrthoneg, Edér had called it, saying it was perfect for someone who didn’t drink much. She appreciated his looking out for her, but even the watered down mead had enough alcohol in it to make her go slow. She was just finishing her first round as Hiravias and Edér plunked down with their third.

“Enjoying yourselves?” Emiri teased.

“ _Absolutely_ ,” they chorused.

“Anything like the ones you’re used to?” she asked Edér, reaching for another piece of the savory pie Keydy had plunked down in front of them with a wink.

Edér considered for a moment. “Not quite as loud as the ones we use’ta have in Gilded Vale, but maybe that’s just ‘cause me an’ Woden use’ta see which of us could whoop louder, which usually spread to everybody our age.”

She rolled her eyes and bumped his shoulder. “Why am I not surprised?” He just laughed and shrugged, so she turned to Hiravias. “Do you have any celebrations like this in your tribe?”

He snorted and downed half his drink in one go. “Course. We usually wait until the first sign of thaw to do the _real_ celebrating, but there is a pretty big feast to mark the beginning of winter.” His gave drifted to something over her shoulder and he grinned. “’Bout time. You get bored?”

Emiri twisted around just in time to see Aloth half-shrug in answer. She broke into an ear to ear grin and scooted closer to Pallegina to make room on the bench. “Ignore him. Though I am glad you decided to join us.”

Aloth nodded, playing with the sleeve of his sweater. “I figured a little while wouldn’t hurt.”

“I’m glad,” Emiri said. She narrowed her eyes when she saw him shiver. “Are you _still_ cold?”

“Perhaps a little,” he admitted, “though I’m sure that has more to do with being outside in a village halfway up a snow covered mountain than it does-”

“Almost drowning in an icy lake?” Emiri finished for him.

“I’m _fine_ , Emiri,” Aloth said, smiling as he accepted the mug Pallegina nudged in his direction. “I appreciate your concern, but it’s unnecessary. There are no lingering ill effects from yesterday, I promise.”

“Alright, if you’re sure,” she murmured, lightly bumping her shoulder against his.

His smile widened, and he leaned in to the brief touch. “I’m sure.” His gaze flicked between the members of their group as he took a drink. “I see we’ve lost Kana.”

Emiri giggled. “No, he wanted to talk to people, learn more about their local traditions and how they maybe differ from say, Gilded Vale.” She winked at Edér. “You know, being _Kana_. He’s right over-” She turned to point toward where she’d last seen him, but he was gone. “Well, he _was_ there,” she muttered, raising her voice instinctively to be heard over the swelling music. “Maybe I _have_ lost him.”

As if summoned by her sheepish admission, Kana swept toward them out of the milling crowd of locals. “How goes it, my friends?” he greeted them, grinning ear to ear. “I trust you’re enjoying yourselves as much as I am?”

“Absolutely,” Emiri confirmed, her heart skipping a beat. He looked so happy it made her grin even wider. “Hearing good stories?”

He nodded. “The kith up here have certainly found ways to make this celebration their own. They fully embrace all the important parts, but put their own twist on the traditions and even added a couple. It’s fascinating to learn about.”

“I’ll bet it is,” she said with a laugh. “I’d ask you to stay and regale me, but Aloth got the last seat, and it doesn’t seem fair to make you stand.”

“Oh, no worries,” Kana laughed, eyes dancing with mirth. “I’ve no need of a seat. I just wanted to see how all of you were faring, and rid myself of this” --he set his empty tankard on the table with a thump-- “before asking you a question.”

“Me?” Emiri raised an eyebrow and her halo pulsed brighter.

He nodded and held out one hand. “Dance with me?”

Her mouth was suddenly very dry. “I...”

Kana smiled encouragingly. “I think it would be fun, in the spirit of things. And I know the songs are unfamiliar, but this one at least sounds close enough to a sarabande I’m sure you’ll manage with no trouble.”

“B’sides, ev’ryone’s drunk an’ won’t care if you fuck up,” Hiravias chipped in helpfully.

Maybe it was his encouragement, or the festive atmosphere, or even the small amount of alcohol she’d consumed. Or maybe something else, deep inside her, didn’t see a problem with throwing caution to the wind just this once. Whatever the reason, it did sound fun.

“Alright,” Emiri nodded, grinning as she took Kana’s hand and let him help her up. She heard Edér and Hiravias whoop as she and Kana skirted the table to join the other dancing couples.

“Just have fun,” Kana whispered as they set palm to palm and fell in step with the dance. “There’s no call to impress anyone this time, and no one who will care if you miss a step.”

Hearing the reassurance helped, as did Kana’s steady and exuberant presence, and Emiri relaxed enough to lose herself in the flow of the music. Kana had been right; there were a few extra steps, and the tempo was much faster--not to mention the different instruments--but this song was just a variation on the sarabande. She may have flubbed the new steps, but it was exceedingly fun. And gods knew she needed fun after yesterday.

The dance finished far sooner than she expected or wanted, and Emiri huffed out a sigh.

Kana chuckled at the reaction and didn’t let go of her hand. “Want to dance another?”

Emiri nodded, grinning wide around her breathless, “Yes, please.”

The next dance was unfamiliar to them both, and they messed up every few steps, but she didn’t care. Neither did anyone else. They offered encouragement and pointers, but the holiday was for _fun_ , so enjoying yourself was the only requirement. And Emiri certainly met _that_. All told, she and Kana danced to five songs--with varying degrees of skill, but steadily increasing enjoyment--before they dropped, breathless and laughing, into seats near the rest of their friends.

Edér pushed drinks toward them with a grin. “Looks like you two could use this.”

Emiri nodded as she took a hard swallow and shot him a grateful smile. More wyrthoneg. She wasn’t much for alcohol, but this was sweet enough-- _mild_ enough--she enjoyed it.

The warm glow from dancing held steady in her chest through the next couple hours of conversation with both her friends and Stalwart’s people, overwhelming enough Emiri wondered if it was visible to everyone.

The answer proved a resounding _yes_ when Edér grinned and pointed out, “You look like you’re tryin’ to outshine the stars, Miri.”

She grinned back and shrugged, gesturing toward her halo. “It gets brighter when I’m happy.”

“Good,” Aloth chipped in with a smile of his own. “You deserve it.”

Emiri shot him another smile. “We all do.”

“Well, this is the place for it,” Hiravias said, holding up his fourth--fifth?--drink in a toast of sorts. “They sure know how to throw a party, I’ll give ‘em that.”

“Right generous of you,” Edér laughed. 

“I’m in a charitable mood,” Hiravias shot back, grinning and bobbling the drink in wordless explanation. “Don’t expect it to last.”

The evening rolled on amid similar banter, punctuated by various locals seeking out the Watcher to thank her for keeping them from having _more_ people to remember this Winter’s End. She chatted with Thyrsc and Suldrun, gave Mylla the bracelet she’d made before breakfast, and waved off Mayor Tarfos when he tried to offer her a reward for chasing away the Iron Flail. By the time they all turned in for the night, Emiri was almost as tired as she’d been the previous day, just for a much better reason.

She smiled into her pillow as she settled in to bed. It had to be her imagination, but she’d swear her hand still felt warm from holding Kana’s. _I **definitely** like Winter’s End,_ she thought drowsily, before drifting off to significantly more pleasant dreams.


End file.
